Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, has announced the release of $67 million in ObamaCare related grants. The funds are being awarded to 105 national organizations and businesses which have volunteered to help Americans learn about the health care coverage available in the Marketplace. The government calls them “navigators.”
I’m not sure what the official ObamaCare definition of a navigator is, but it sounds to me a lot like an insurance agent. They tell you what your options are and make recommendations. There are certainly some interesting recipients including a few Planned Parenthood and United Way chapters. If you would like to see the entire list, you can click here. Some of the grants are substantial. The University of South Florida will be receiving an expected $4,213,696 in grant money.
“Navigators will be among the many resources available to help consumers understand their coverage options in the Marketplace,” said Secretary Sebelius. “A network of volunteers on the ground in every state – health care providers, business leaders, faith leaders, community groups, advocates, and local elected officials – can help spread the word and encourage their neighbors to get enrolled.”
I was reading this press release, and it honestly bored me. I know that we all should be upset, but our government flushing $67 million down the toilet is an improvement. We expect worse. So I was reading and thinking this isn’t bad until I read this:
Today’s announcement builds upon the significant progress in outreach and education made this summer. Consumers can learn about and enroll in coverage later this fall through HealthCare.gov. HHS launched a 24-hours-a-day consumer call center ready to answer questions in 150 languages. More than 1,200 community health centers across the country are preparing to help enroll uninsured Americans in coverage, and a partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services will help trusted local libraries be a resource for consumers who want information on their options. In addition, HHS has begun training other individuals who will be providing in-person assistance, such as agents and brokers and certified application counselors.
Now that’s what we are used to. We must keep lowering the bar. I think we would have all fully expected that Spanish would be an option. But 148 other options to English and Spanish? Where did they find these operators? Are they paying some guy $50,000 a year to speak some African Tribal language that I have never heard of in order for him to communicate with the 48 people in the entire nation who speak it?
So if I call, and get mis-routed, I’ll probably be talking to some guy with a bone in his nose.
What’s that? You say that was insensitive? Well I may be crass, but this is the dumbest thing I have heard in a while.
150 languages? Whatever happened to English?
I was curious after reading that and did a quick Google search to find out how many languages are spoken around the globe. One site stated 4500 and another stated 7000. Both noted that this did not include “dialects.”
Leave it to these liberals to leave out well over 90% of the world’s population. What a bunch of racists!
How can we keep bringing in these immigrants if HHS isn’t able to speak their language?
Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? I know people will call me a bigot but this is America, and if you can’t speak English then don’t let the door hit you in the *** on your way back to wherever you came from.
I had the opportunity to work in a window factory a couple of years ago. There were a lot of Mexican immigrants there. One gentleman named Saul was about my age. I had to use a little broken Spanish to communicate with him, and we used a lot of hand signals. I didn’t really mind until I learned his story.
A friend of mine told me that Saul had been in this country for 20 years and still barely spoke any English.
That, my friends, is how immigration works.
If someone wants to better themselves by coming to this country, then they should be willing to learn to integrate and speak the national language. We spend way too much time accommodating people who are too lazy to do even the basic things that we would expect of American citizens.
He can’t speak more than maybe 25 words of English, but he can vote.
And we wonder why this country has taken such a dramatic turn for the worse?
I live in a community that is roughly 50% Hispanic. Immigrants find their way here to work in local factories. I can tell you that Saul is not necessarily the norm, but there are many like him.
He is a hard worker and a genuinely likeable guy, but if Saul doesn’t want to learn the language, he should be deported until he does. There are a lot of people who would gladly take his place and make the effort to learn English.
Apathy and political correctness are killing this country.
Just think about the many jobless American who don’t qualify for these operator jobs because they only speak ENGLISH.
Rand Paul revealed that there are 122,000 diagnostic codes in ObamaCare, and now we find out that the representatives will cater to people in 150 languages. These people takeBig Government to a whole new level.
We just can’t wait to find out what else is in this.
